


Awakening

by taibhrigh



Category: The Losers, The Losers (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Soulmates, Supernatural Elements, Vampires, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-14
Updated: 2011-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-14 18:28:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/152179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taibhrigh/pseuds/taibhrigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a world where supernatural things walk among regular humans by hiding in plain sight. Despite that, Jensen wasn't sure how he ended up on a team with another shapeshifter or an incubus, but it definitely made it easier for him, and for them to pass off their unit's quirks as nothing but them being the Losers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awakening

**Author's Note:**

  * For [james](https://archiveofourown.org/users/james/gifts).



> **Additional Pairings:** Pooch/Jolene and hints of possible Clay/Roque (it's all in how you look at it)
> 
>  **Notes:** Thanks to [kayim](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kayim) who is to blame for pointing me in the direction of this challenge. Many thanks to [Tarlan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tarlan) for the beta, especially as it was in a fandom she hadn't been introduced to yet. Thanks to [Symbioticdeath](http://archiveofourown.org/users/symbioticdeath) for the beta and the title. And even more thanks to [Siluria](http://archiveofourown.org/users/siluria) who betaed this twice :)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"I am not busting you out of the zoo if you get caught. Okay, fine, I will. But you'll be explaining this one to Clay."

Jensen huffed as he watched his team member take off his clothes and ignored the silence. He lifted his glasses to rub at his eyes before continuing. "I mean, I know Clay will still somehow think this is my fault, broken foot or not. And I did think about shifting to try and heal it faster, but I fully believe you'd go out there alone while I was out."

Jensen wasn't sure how he ended up on a Special Forces team with another shapeshifter or an incubus, but it definitely made it easier to hide and to pass off their unit's quirks as nothing but them being the Losers. Though Roque was by far the scariest of them all and he was human. Which just wasn't even fair in Jensen's book.

Jake Jensen, US Army corporal, super tech geek extraordinaire, was a shapeshifter. And okay, he was a wolf, but that had been his choice and he really didn't like the term werewolf as it came with too many media preconceptions. There had just been something about the wolf that called to him more than any other animal and his mother had always said that was how you knew which animal was for you. On two occasions he'd become a hawk, but that took a lot of concentration and his flying left a lot to be desired. His landing even more so...a beak was not a brake. He'd even been a leopard a couple of times. The leaping and climbing had been cool, but he always came back to the wolf. It was the one he had the smoothest transition to and from; it was like it was his balance. Plus, in a city he could generally pass himself off as a dog because a human's first reaction wasn't to call wolf in the middle of Boston. No, they thought husky or malamute, or maybe even one of those hybrid things, but never wolf. Not that he had ever taken a four-footed stroll down a Boston sidewalk; at least not one he would ever admit to.

He hadn't planned on telling anyone in his unit he was a shifter. Not even the other shifter even though he was sure the other knew. It never impacted his job. Contrary to popular belief, you could not become a werewolf, shapeshifter, were-what-have-you if you were bitten or scratched by a shapeshifter. You'd need medical attention, probably a tetanus shot to be safe, and have a scar, but you wouldn't have to worry about turning fuzzy, fluffy, or winged come the next full moon. Which brought up the whole moon thing. Also a myth. One idiot runs through a forest howling at the full moon and then gets discovered the next morning naked as the day he was born and wham, folklore begins.

Jensen hadn't even planned on telling Clay after he'd seen his commanding officer feeding off a pretty red-head from the bar. Some things really were better left unseen. But Clay being an incubus did explain a lot. His love them and leave them attitude. The over the top reaction of the women, or on the very rare occasion the man, to the sudden breakup. Not that two or three evenings together over a month constituted dating that really needed to result in a crazy breakup.

And what had Clay even been thinking when he took Emma from EOD out those few times! Jensen was a firm believer that his CO should not feed where they worked and definitely not from people who were crazy enough that they willingly defused bombs for a living. Because really, they knew how to make them too. The only reason Clay wasn’t charred from that little experience was because he had smelled the explosives attached to the car. They hadn't been back to Fort Shafter since; which sucked because, you know, Hawaii.

He sort of outed himself by saving Clay. Or Clay outed him to the others with his loud, "How the hell did you know that? What are you some type of...are you a werewolf, Jensen?" Incubi just didn’t see the difference between the word "were-animal" and "shifter" but call an incubus a succubus or vice versa and you usually got a five minute lecture on the difference between men and women.

Jensen had looked at his CO like he was crazy. Well, crazier than he already was and he had just let the wrong word slip out as a way to take the heat off of himself. "You’re a succubus! That explains all the crazy exes!"

Clay had glared and corrected him and not with the long lecture that would help dismiss the whole werewolf comment. "Incubus, Jensen. I'm male." That was Clay, short and sweet.

Roque had looked between them both and then admitted that it did explain some things, that Clay was just attracted to crazy and crazy was attracted to him. Which, if you thought about it, explained even more. The Losers were not exactly sane. It had also explained much about Clay and Roque's "relationship" if you could call it that. But the crazy bitches did taper off after Clay's revelation. He'd thank Roque for that, but some things were better left unsaid. Especially if it meant Roque didn't throw one of his knives at you. And Roque's mild reaction? Yeah, Roque had something supernatural way back when in his family tree but he wasn't saying.

Clay had then barked out that Cougar was a werewolf too. For the record, Cougar actually growls in all his forms. And he wasn’t even a wolf. Were-kitty, but Jensen only heard Pooch call Cougar that once and only when he was absolutely sure Cougar was nowhere near earshot.

Cougar was a shapeshifter like Jensen, but his chosen animal was a cougar. But like Jensen he'd seen the other man become a bird--a falcon--but with such ease that it was like Cougar almost had three natural forms. Jensen had always thought that had griffins been real, Cougar would have been one.

And it really hadn't surprised him when he learned that Cougar's first team had given him the nickname not knowing what the man was. It was because even as a human Cougar moved like his inner cat--fast, quiet, and with great leaps and bounds.

Jensen watched as the naked human Cougar padded across the room towards him.

"I will be fine, wolf," Cougar said, dropping his hat on Jensen's head before leaning in to kiss him.

Jensen would admit it, Cougar had just made him speechless. The hat, the kiss and then handing him his sniper rifle. He couldn't get his brain and mouth to work together until after the other man had shifted and jumped up and out of the open window.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Cougar glanced over at Jensen as he was taking off his clothes. The younger man was worried. Their mission to take down the arms dealer, DeSoto, had gone bad. Very bad. Pooch was stable but had yet to wake up. The wounds and IV needed to be monitored and they were lucky the medkit had been with Jensen when it all went sideways. Clay and Roque had been captured and worse yet, Clay hadn't fed in more than a week. Jensen was injured and could heal himself but it would put him out of commission for a couple of hours and Cougar didn't think they had the time for that. The healing, it was something neither shifter had mentioned they could do--some things were best kept hidden.

When Jensen had first joined the Losers Cougar had been worried. The tech seemed loud, slightly absent minded, and clumsy. Within a week he'd learned that it was all a show; something the others still forgot to this day. He'd also figured out that Jensen wasn't human. The blond man's reflexes were just too damn good sometimes.

And thanks to Clay they had all been outed for not being human. Pooch had shrugged and said something like "that explains a lot" but other than that didn't seem to care. Cougar knew that somewhere in both Roque and Pooch's family trees there were supernaturals or non-humans. It would explain some of their little quirks and why both men stayed. Like Roque's ability to keep Clay stable when he hadn't fed.

Cougar was relying on that ability right now because if Clay got pissed while being held captive, especially if he was injured--and the blood Cougar had found said he was--it could be messy and a lot worse than Jensen having to break him out of a zoo. Which had only happened once and it wasn't a zoo but an animal refuge. Much easier to get out of. It was the stupid tracking collar that had been the problem. They had not told Clay about that little incident.

He padded over to Jensen with his rifle in his hand and nothing on but his hat. Cougar was attracted to their resident tech and he knew Jensen was attracted to him. When this mission was over, Cougar was going to make his move to claim the younger man. He tilted his head slightly and then shrugged to himself, now was as good as ever.

"I will be fine, wolf," he said, dropping his hat on Jensen's head and handing him his sniper rifle so that Jensen could follow his progress at least most of the way there; and on his return take out anyone following him. He put a finger under Jensen's jaw and angled the other man's head back before leaning down to kiss the younger man.

He shifted before Jensen could put words together and leapt onto the window sill and was on the roof of the building across the way before he paused to look back. Jensen had stuck his head out the window, hat still firmly on his head.

"Just be safe, Cougs."

Cougar bobbed his head and then took off. Dashing and leaping across roof tops until he was across the city. He crouched low on the rooftop opposite the warehouse he thought Clay and Roque were being held. His sense of smell was not nearly as good as Jensen's but his sight and hearing were better. Jensen needed his glasses to see as a human, but the man's night vision as a wolf almost equaled his. Shifters were still mostly human and each side of their being had to adapt to the abilities of the other.

He tilted his head when he thought he heard a scream that sounded like Roque. It was followed by Clay yelling. It was definitely the right building. Cougar jumped to the ground below and shifted; rolling to his feet as a human. Naked was not the best but claws couldn't open a car door and he needed to find something to wear and something to pick a lock with. He got what he needed when a guard rounded the corner. Naked did work well as a distraction though. He now had a pair of pants and shirt--both rather large, but you worked with what was at hand. He'd also acquired a knife, a gun with a spare clip, and a set of keys.

Then the yelling inside the building started. Not good.

Cougar sprinted for the warehouse door, his hearing telling him there was no one near it as he yanked it open. He dodged behind a pillar when a guard came running out of a side room, blood running from his face and side. But as the guard approached him Cougar could also smell fear and knew the man was running for his life and the door.

Whatever Clay, the incubus, was doing inside that room Cougar couldn't let get out and threw the knife, taking the man in the throat as he passed. Cougar jogged to the side workroom and peeked around the doorframe. The scent hit him before his eyes could confirm. Blood. And a lot of it. Cougar counted at least three, no four, bodies. Then he saw Roque and Clay.

Roque was propped up in the corner. His shoulder was showing signs of being dislocated and there were at least two other visible wounds. Both looked to be stab wounds. When Roque tried to move a little a third wound in his upper thigh was revealed, but he was alive and conscious and didn't seem to be in pain and that was the part that was a little troubling.

Cougar shifted his view to Clay who was naked from the waist up and straddling one of their captors. The wound on Clay's back was healing as the man on his back screamed and began turning gray. Clay turned to look at Cougar and Cougar stayed perfectly still as he got his first clear look at his boss. A boss whose eyes were as black as a moonless and starless sky. He had never seen Clay this far gone.

"Here kitty, kitty," Clay taunted.

Cougar didn't move. He kept the hand with the gun at his side but wrapped his fingers tighter around the grip. There was a reason why people feared incubi. Some called them wraith; others vampire. And some still, demon. Normally in a fight between an incubus and a shifter the shifter would win. Clay, was what other incubi and succubi would call a Master--he could feed from sex, blood, and fear while making the person he fed from enjoy it and right now he was more dangerous than facing off against a dozen shifters.

"Has the little cat come to play?" Clay all but glided closer to Cougar.

"Clay, no." Roque's voice was just above a whisper, but the man was slowly moving his shoulder as if it was no longer dislocated. "He's one of yours."

Clay tilted his head and stared at Cougar. "Are you mine, cat?" he asked walking around Cougar.

Cougar could feel the power rolling off Clay. "Yes," he answered honestly. Clay was his boss; he'd sworn to follow the man and right now it was about not making himself a target.

He hadn't known an incubus' senses were heightened. He knew they could sense something from or in their donors; but like shapeshifters, they didn't share information. But it looked like whatever had happened in this room Clay had let all of his inner beast out and it had really good senses.

"I smell wolf on you. Is it mine too?" Clay questioned, a sharp grin playing around the man's lips.

Cougar couldn't control it, he let a quiet growl escape, but didn't answer.

"I see," Clay said, leaning in close enough that Cougar could see the pure black eyes and smell the blood still on Clay's breath. "He's yours, but you're mine?"

"Yes."

"Then shift for me, cat."

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Somewhere in between Cougar dropping his hat on Jensen's head, handing off his rifle, and shifting Cougar had kissed him. Cougar kissed him. No one was there or awake to see him blush. "Guess I didn't hide that as well as I thought," he muttered.

He checked on Pooch again. He checked the stitches, disinfected them again to be safe and then covered them with fresh sterile bandages. He switched out the antibiotic IV bag. Checking Pooch's pulse and fever and finding both normal, Jensen sighed in relief. Pooch just needed to wake up and everything would be good on that front.

Jensen hobbled over to his computer to check on the searches he had running. Nothing. And this city didn't have a great CCTV system, but he pulled up what he could. He spun in the chair and growled while looking down at his foot.

"Fuck it," he said and began unwrapping the bandage and removing the splint. He stared down at his foot. He'd never tried this before and he was very sure it was going to hurt.

Jensen concentrated on his foot. It started to tickle and then he yelped as one of the bones popped and shifted underneath his skin. He growled as the fur on his foot began to retreat. At least he hadn't made it any worse or at least he didn't think he had.

"Try, try, try again."

This time the high pitch yelp was definitely not human sounding. Nor were the three after that. Neither was the howl and Jensen was glad there was no one else in the building they were squatting in. He gave one quick look towards where Pooch lay to see if the other man had woken during any of that and blew out a breath when he saw that Pooch was still out.

He was exhausted, sweating, and could eat a horse but when the fur finally retreated from his foot and calf his ankle no longer looked or felt broken. He was betting an x-ray would show it as something closer to a mostly healed fracture, because it was still heavily bruised and twinged when he tried to rotate it. Jensen slowly tried to stand. His foot could bear his weight but there would be no running as a human, at least not for a couple more days.

He grabbed several of the MREs and chowed down on the first one without even tasting the food he shoveled into his mouth before taking it slower with the second. Then he spent the time carefully re-wrapping his ankle and popping an anti-inflammatory and a pain pill. He moved his laptop to the side and propped his foot up on the table, cracking one of the medical ice packs. Within minutes he could feel the cold through the bandage and let it ease the remaining pain.

When Jensen finally picked up his laptop and placed it on his thighs he was surprised to see that more than an hour had passed and that his trace searches had finished. He quickly saved the information he'd found and began skimming it. He would not be mentioning the lost hour, though he was sure Cougar would know and chastise him in that quiet non-verbal way of his because it had been foolish and it had left Pooch unprotected.

Their arms dealer, DeSoto, was on the move again and the Losers wouldn't be catching up to him here but at least he could track the guy's accounts and they should be able to pick up his trail as soon as Pooch was back on his feet. Now he just needed Cougar to return with Clay and Roque and everything would be better. Then he and Cougs could have a moment to talk...preferably on the roof away from everyone else.

Jensen wheeled himself in the big, comfy office chair over to the window and lifted up Cougar's rifle. He sighted through the scope and followed the path Cougar had taken. There was a fire burning a few miles to the left of where he'd last seen the other shifter. He scanned the sky and saw a helicopter circling the fire.

"I sure the hell hope that wasn't us." He put the rifle back down and used his good leg to push the chair away from the window and back towards his laptop so he could start another run. This one on DeSoto's second in command and anyone else he could find that had been in the man's employment.

Some thirty minutes later his laptop popped up a message that someone or something had tripped the silent alarm he'd set up downstairs. The alert was followed by the sounds of movement. He closed the lid on his laptop and placed Cougar's hat on top of it, shoved his injured foot into his boot, and dimmed the only other light in the room--the one near where Pooch rested. He checked his gun before quietly opening the door.

Jensen squeezed through a small gap he made with the open door and kept to the wall as he made his way to the staircase. Healing his foot had been worth it as earlier he would never have been able to move through the building without making noise.

The first person he saw in the lobby was Cougar and he breathed a sigh of relief and gave the other man a smile. "Cougar? Where's...what's wrong?" Then he saw Clay and Clay's black eyes and thought maybe it would have been best if he'd just stayed upstairs.

Clay glided up to him and Jensen stayed very still. If he hadn't known better he would have sworn Clay was floating. He sniffed the air and it smelled of blood. Some Clay's, some Roque's, but there was a lot that did not match with the scent profiles he had on his team. A lot.

"The cat's little wolf," Clay said with a smile that showed teeth.

Jensen wasn't sure how to take that but answered with a shrug. "Umm, yeah," he said, his eyes going to Cougar and noticing that Roque had come through the door before his attention was solely on his boss again. This was an interesting turn of events and probably meant the fire had been them. "Boss?"

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Cougar glared. He hoped Jensen was having a better time with the tech work than he was having with the rescue plan. He knelt down and put the gun, safety still off as the risk that he might need it was still high, on the ground before taking his borrowed clothes off and shifting. He sat but kept Clay in sight as the incubus walked around him again.

"Good little cat."

Cougar's whiskers twitched, but he stayed as he was. Alert and watching. Claws not retracted. But he didn't attack when Clay leaned down to inspect him or when the other man's hand brushed over his head in a petting manner. Cougar wondered if maybe Clay was high on whomever he'd fed on.

"Clay."

Clay turned and straightened at the sound of his name and Cougar watched as his boss moved so quietly and gracefully toward Roque; he now understood why people thought vampires could fly or float. The incubus reached out and stroked Roque's face.

"We don't have time for this," Roque said, grabbing the hand to still it. "We've been compromised."

"I will kill anyone who takes what is mine."

Cougar hissed. Whatever had gone on between his CO and 2IC he didn't want to know but if it was what he thought then he didn't want to witness it happening again either and Roque was right they needed to get out of here.

"I know," Roque answered, then corrected as if remembering Cougar was sitting there. "We know; but we need to leave. Now. Cougar change back and tell us what you had planned for our extraction."

Cougar didn't shift, just turned his head to look at Clay. Roque might out rank him in the Army and be Clay's 2IC, but he wasn't calling the shots here. No matter what Clay may have woken in the other man to heal him; he was still human. And for the first time since Cougar had joined the Losers, Roque wasn't the scariest thing in the room.

Clay easily broke the hold Roque had on his wrist. "He answers to me just as you do, demon-blood," he said, stroking Roque's face again and bringing the bloodied fingers to his lips. "Do you truly belong to me Roque?"

It was the first time since Cougar had arrived that he'd heard Clay use someone's name. He wasn't sure if that was good or not. All he knew was that he needed the two of them to hash out whatever it was so that he could shift and then get them the hell out of this warehouse. Plus the scent of blood was getting to him and that would be when he sneezed. And sneezed again. He used his paw to rub at his nose. Kerosene or gas was also in the air.

"Shift cat."

Cougar didn't know what he had missed, but Roque looked perfectly healed and Clay's eyes were still black when he gave Cougar the order. He'd lay odds that Roque had said yes, but right now all it meant was they were getting out of here. He rolled his shoulder and shifted into a squatting position and quickly redressed. The gun went into the waistband of his pants.

"We're leaving," Clay ordered, leaving the workroom and walking into the main warehouse. "Burn this building to the ground. We don't leave evidence of our kind."

Cougar nodded. "Green sedan, twenty feet to the left of the exit door," he said, following the other two men out of the room.

Roque moved to the back of the warehouse towards the loading dock and two gas pumps. That explained the smell; it also meant that burning down the building was going to be an understatement when Roque finished with it.

He didn't wait to see what Roque did and he wanted to be far enough away not to be caught in the blast or the aftermath. Clay waited at the exit door and Cougar skirted past him and out to the car. He had the car started and waiting by the door when both Clay and Roque exited and climbed into the backseat.

Cougar kept his eyes on the road as he drove through the maze of warehouses and was just exiting the warehouse district when the arms dealer's warehouse exploded. Cougar would give it four stars if it hadn't come with all the supernatural baggage. There was going to be so much editing to their after action reports that he'd be surprised if there was even a paragraph of text in the description space on the form. And that only mattered if Clay ever came down off his high.

He pulled the car into a parking lot several blocks from their building and cut the ignition. "We go on foot from here." He quickly wiped the car down with the jacket he'd found on the passenger seat and then tossed it in the first garbage bin they passed. The walk to their building was quiet and thankfully there was no one out and about at this hour in the neighborhood they had selected to use as their base. Especially since he wasn't sure how Clay was going to react to people right now.

Cougar opened the door to the building and moved past the unfinished reception desk and into the lobby. He spotted Jensen moving down the stairs. The other shifter was a little too silent for someone whose foot should still be broken but that was something else he'd add to his list to bring up later.

He saw Jensen let out a quiet breath and smile when he recognized him.

"Cougar? Where's...what's wrong?" Jensen opened his mouth and started speaking and then trailed off as he saw Clay's eyes.

Cougar wasn't sure if Jensen had ever seen a Master incubus or succubus or not, but the other shifter froze as Clay approached him.

"The cat's little wolf," Clay said and smiled.

"Umm, yeah." Jensen's answer, while shaky seemed to mollify the incubus and Cougar was thankful for that because he could already see the questions forming in their resident tech geek's mind.

Clay tilted his head. "There's someone else in this building," he said, moving to the staircase and going up.

Roque followed Clay. Cougar wasn't sure what Clay might do to any of them but he was almost positive that the incubus didn't want any of them dead so he held Jensen back while the other two finished going up the stairs.

"What the hell, Cougs?"

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Cougar kissed him instead of answering. Jensen wasn't sure if that was supposed to stop him from asking questions or not, but it wasn't going to. Though he did enjoy the kiss. And the second one on the landing.

"Answer me," he said, whisper soft, but Cougar gave him a look; one he knew and was choosing to drive right over it for now.

"We'll talk about the ankle later. Your hat is safe and sound on top of my laptop. Is Pooch going to be safe up there, alone with those two? Is Clay a Master? That's what the black eyes mean, right? I've never actually seen one. I really thought they were more mythos of old. Did you know? Did Clay know? How did this happen? Is it still Clay? And what the hell is Roque?"

Jensen had more questions but Cougar pushed him into the corner of the landing and grabbed his head for another kiss and okay, it was distractingly good.

"Pooch will be fine," Cougar answered, breaking the kiss. "Clay's not going to kill him."

Jensen waited for Cougar to say more, but the other man remained silent. "I know you have a weekly word limit but I can't hack your brain and whatever the hell happened...I mean, I'll give you some of my words, not that I'll miss them...and stop kissing me." Jensen slapped a hand over his mouth about the same time one of Cougar's eyebrows raised. "I mean, don't stop. But stop. You're trying to distract me but you know how my mind works."

Cougar's eyebrow went up again but there was also a smirk.

"Okay, how it mostly works," Jensen continued. "And you know it will just circle back around and I'll ask and next time it might be up there so spill."

He felt a sudden loss as Cougar drew back from him. That was a new and unwelcome feeling and he wasn't going to dwell on it now. He was almost positive he knew what it was and he was okay with that. No, he needed answers for Clay's black eyes. Thoughts of sex would have to be saved for later.

Cougar put his hands on Jensen's shoulders and pushed downward. He let Cougar push him to his knees, his back still to the wall. Then Cougar straddled his thighs and sat down. It put him and the other man face-to-face for a second before Cougar moved so that his lips were less than an inch from Jensen's ear and he began speaking.

Jensen listened to the quiet whisper and knew that Clay wouldn't be able to hear them because Jensen was positive that if he hadn't been a shifter he wouldn't have been able to hear Cougar either. When Cougar stopped, Jensen dropped his head to Cougar's shoulder. "We are so screwed," he said, muffled but just as quietly.

"What did you mean by what is Roque?"

"He smells...the same but different."

"Clay called him demon-blood."

Jensen lifted his head, his mind speeding through the information it contained. "I've heard that term before. That millennia back the ones folklore, legend, and religion called gods but were just other types of us. Other supernaturals who would sometimes take a human lover, but they warred themselves out of existence with infighting and all that was left of them were traits they passed on to their half-breed offspring. But over time those offspring have become what we call witches, psychics, and jinn, conjurors."

"Roque is not a witch," Cougar murmured, firmly. "Something darker."

"Yeah."

"Cat!"

They both froze and looked up towards the second floor. They couldn't see Clay, but they could definitely feel him again.

"And bring the puppy."

Jensen growled. "Oh, that's going to get old real fast." He didn't mind it when Cougar called him "wolf" but Clay's tone was very mocking.

Cougar snorted and leaned in to kiss him one more time before standing up and reaching his hand out. Jensen let Cougar pull him to his feet but leaned in and offered, "We could run."

Cougar shook his head. "As he is now, Clay would be able to find us."

Jensen sighed. "Thought so," he said, slowly following Cougar up the stairs.

"I have not forgotten about your ankle."

"Just pile it on, man. Just keep piling it on."

The room was as Jensen had left it with the exception of Clay now seated in the most comfortable of the desk chairs--legs crossed, fingers tapping on the arm and eyes still black--and sort of reminded him of a character from a comic book. Jensen moved to check on Pooch, but was stopped by Roque's voice telling him that Pooch was okay.

"My cat and his wolf," Clay said. "Tell me, my little wolf, where is DeSoto now."

That answered the question of whether or not Clay was in there somewhere. "He's no longer in the city," Jensen replied. "He hopped on his private jet and submitted a fake flight plan." Jensen ignored Clay's growl. "I've tagged every account I could find so we'll know if he accesses one of them. I've also set up a trace on his cellphone and the last text message indicates that his chief enforcer, Wilson, is still here somewhere."

"Not anymore." Clay grinned, teeth showing and Jensen had a feeling he had been part of the incubus' last meal.

Jensen let out a hum of disappointment. "Ah, let's hope DeSoto doesn't think anything is amiss and calls or texts again so I can trace."

Cougar handed Jensen a cellphone with a quiet, "Belonged to Wilson."

"This'll definitely help." Jensen nodded and put the phone next to his computer.

Clay templed his fingers together and kept his black eyes focused on Jensen. "Extraction?"

"I was waiting for your rescu...return, Boss."

"Make the call. Evac in thirty-six. The conjuror should be mobile before then."

"Conjuror? Pooch?"

Jensen looked over where Pooch lay and then back at Clay before glancing at Roque and Cougar. Now they at least knew what had slept with one of Pooch's ancestors and it explained how Pooch could out bluff Cougar in cards sometimes, but the man's skills were dormant. How would Jolene, a witch, feel about Clay's actions.

"What did you do? Who, what, who the hell did you drain?" He had almost been afraid to ask, but he had to.

"I woke up his blood. I made him mine." Clay smiled and it wasn't a nice smile and gave a small shrug as if it didn't matter. And it probably didn't; the deed was done and over.

Cougar hissed. "Jolene will not be happy."

Jensen found Clay's laugh very unsettling, but moved to his computer and the radio equipment. He quickly called in their request for an evac. Their ride would be here in less than twenty hours. He glanced over at Clay to see if the incubus was upset about the quicker retrieval but Clay just nodded before sinking back in the chair.

"DeSoto texted Wilson about half an hour ago wanting an update on," Jensen paused, "well, you two actually."

"Send a reply. Something short. 'Matter handled. Cleaning up now. Your location may be compromised.' Hopefully DeSoto will tell us where he's going."

Jensen nodded and sent the message and then plugged Wilson's cellphone into his computer and started copying all the files and contacts.

"I want to see your wolf," Clay demanded, and relaxed further back into the chair. "Now."

Jensen looked at Cougar. He was feeling out of his depth here.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Cougar moved to stand next to Jensen and hissed; the sound was not very human. He wasn't sure what the incubus was looking for because Clay had seen both he and Jensen in their animal forms. The warehouse had been about not making himself a target for a pissed off Master, but this was something different.

Clay didn't move and with his eyes still black Cougar couldn't tell exactly what the other man was thinking.

"Is there a problem, Cougar?" Clay asked, using his name for the first time since this mess started.

Cougar hissed again and it only caused Clay to smirk.

"He's mine," Clay said. "He might be whatever it is you shifters call your lovers but he's my soldier. Mine to command. Just like you and Roque and Pooch. You are all mine. Now I want Jensen's wolf or I can feed from you. It's just that simple."

Cougar felt Jensen squeeze his arm and heard his whisper soft 'it's okay' before Jensen tried to take a step away from him but he reached out to stop the other man so he could gently take off Jensen's glasses. He gave the hacker a nod and stepped away as Jensen removed his clothes then shifted.

The wolf stood there for a second before plopping its ass down and Cougar could very clearly read Jensen's non-verbal comment of 'okay, now what' and if a wolf could, Jensen would have crossed his paws over his chest. Cougar was sure there was probably a 'fuck you' in there too and that made him want to grin. Instead he glanced over at Clay to see if this satisfied their boss.

"Fantastic," Clay said, grinning and at that moment Cougar got it. Clay was just tired of hiding and if there was power around him he was going to use it.

Wilson's phone chose that moment to beep and Cougar was rather proud of Jensen for ignoring Clay and shifting back to human without waiting for an order, just grabbed his boxers and picked up the phone. Cougar stepped closer and tapped Jensen on the shoulder; Jensen for his part just reached back and took his glasses.

"DeSoto acknowledged and says to meet at the villa. But he does want Wilson to call when he's clear."

"That's still a problem," Roque said.

Clay waved his hand, dismissing Roque's comment and turned to look at Jensen. "Jensen, call him back. Let Desoto answer, throw in some static and hang up. Text him back something about crappy signal, covering his tracks and being there in three days."

Roque stepped away from the wall he'd been leaning on before asking, "We still going after DeSoto then?"

"Absolutely. We're finishing the mission. Just waiting for our chopper, and for our pilot to wake."

Cougar glanced over at Pooch. The man had not moved, but the bruising on his face was gone. Jolene really would kill Clay if he did anything to hurt Pooch. A pissed off Jolene, even if she was mostly human, was dangerous. And his money would be on Jolene in that fight.

"What did you turn on in Pooch and Roque?" Cougar asked softly.

"I pushed power into them. I can push power into you, but it would probably do nothing but make you itch. You two are already one with what's inside you."

Roque grunted and Cougar was thankful in this instance for the other man's brusqueness. "What did you feed on in that warehouse?"

Clay turned the desk chair a little to look directly at Roque. "Wilson wasn't any more human than I am or they are," he waved his hand towards Cougar and Jensen. "He was what you could have been had you not had as many recessive qualities."

"That means what exactly?" Roque said with anger-laced bitterness in his voice.

"He was tasty but you were worth keeping alive."

Cougar looked at Jensen when the other shifter poked him and mouthed, "What? Did they, you know?" Cougar shook his head as Jensen used his hands to finish the question.

"We can't go back into the world with you and those eyes, Clay," Roque continued and Cougar could still taste the bitterness in the air with his senses.

Clay smiled. "What's wrong with my eyes," he said, closing them and then reopening them to reveal very human brown eyes. Clay blinked again and his eyes were back to black.

Cougar rolled his eyes. He was tired, they needed to eat and they all needed to rest. "Jensen," he said, "sit, I need to look at your foot."

"You don't...I'm fine," Jensen tried, but Cougar just raised an eyebrow and watched Jensen huff out a breath before giving in. "Fine," he said and slid down the wall.

Cougar lifted Jensen's foot, poked, prodded, rotated it, and bent it back and forth and dared the other shifter to say anything.

"You two done?" Roque barked.

Cougar ignored Roque but saw Jensen glare and wrinkle his nose before saying, "You're pissier than normal and stink. Ever heard of a shower?"

Cougar grinned and tapped Jensen on the knee; Jensen grinned back.

Roque moved towards them. "Funny, Jensen" Roque growled. "I'll show you."

Cougar heard their boss snort but kept his focus on Roque as the man was still coming toward them. He didn't relax until he heard his CO's voice and saw Roque stop.

"He's being literal, Roque. We actually do stink." Clay stood and stretched before heading to his gear and grabbing a small kit from within and a change of clothes. "Everyone take twelve. Eat, shower, sleep, whatever. Pooch should be up and about by then and our ride sometime after that. Jensen, I want all your new finds on DeSoto and his operation."

Cougar offered his hand to Jensen again and pulled his soon to be lover to his feet. "Do whatever you need then meet me on the roof," he said, before grabbing his hat off the desk, his rifle from by the window, and his gear bag.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Jensen watched as both Clay and Roque gathered the gear they would need to shower and change before leaving the room and heading down the hall to an unfinished but operational locker room. He needed to do a few things before he could follow Cougar to the roof. Checking on Pooch again was among the first.

"Jolene is going to be so pissed, man," Jensen muttered, quietly as he removed the unneeded bandages where the skin seemed to now be healed. "You better come out of this okay."

He grabbed the mini-laptop from his bag and connected it to his laptop, transferring all the files he'd retrieved as well as his notes before leaving the smaller laptop on top of Clay's gear. Closing the lid on his laptop, he picked it up and shoved it along with his pile of clothes, a handful of MREs and several bottles of water into his tech bag and headed to the roof. And Cougar.

Jensen hadn't been nervous until he hit the stairs that led to the roof access door. He'd kept to a few one night stands, male and female, within the shifter populace and there'd been that one time with the succubus and that had been mind-blowingly normal and a little disappointing if he was honest. He'd stayed away from human female sex partners because that would be a pregnancy that would be shitty for all involved as shifters generally bred true and that wasn't something he wanted to leave a human woman with; it wasn't something he wanted to leave another shifter with for that matter either. He was not his father or his brother-in-law.

All those thoughts ran through his mind between the first step and the third. The next three steps were all about the feelings he'd had for Cougar since the first time he'd met the sniper. Two steps from the door he paused as he thought about the feeling he'd had earlier. The one when Cougar had pulled away. Bereft. Like losing something he hadn't known he could have and only now realized had always been within arm's reach.

Friend. Lover. Mate.

Jensen took the last two steps and froze with his hand on the door. What if he was wrong? The door pulled open from the other side and Cougar was standing there quietly, waiting. No longer in the borrowed shirt and with his hat back on where it belonged. "What has your mind spinning, Jake?"

Jensen stepped out onto the roof and shut the door behind him. Taking several deep breaths he headed over to Cougar.

"I...I brought you something to eat," he said reaching into his bag and handing Cougar two of his favorite MREs and a bottle of water.

Jensen watched as Cougar accepted the food and gracefully walked back towards the sleeping bag he'd opened out and laid on the roof. The borrowed shirt had been rolled up and Cougar was using it as a backrest. Jensen could tell that the sniper had obviously been cleaning his baby but quickly re-assembled the sniper rifle and laid it by his side before opening one of the MREs and adding a little water to the FRH--flameless ration heater--to warm the entree. Cougar looked up at him but he didn't move any closer.

"Cougs," Jensen began, adjusting the strap on his bag before sighing and walking over to the sleeping bag and sitting opposite Cougar. "Did you know?" he asked, waving his hand between them so as to rule out what he was now thinking of as the Clay's Gone Master Incubus Crazy Ordeal.

Cougar took several bites of his food and a sip of water before answering. "Suspected."

"I, I've never met someone who has found their true mate before," Jensen said softly, fiddling with his own MRE but not opening it. "I wasn't really involved with the shifter community growing up."

He didn't want to go there right now and Cougar somehow knew that because he tossed him the bag of M&Ms that had been in his MRE.

Jensen stared at the bag for a moment before tearing a corner open and dumping the M&Ms out. He sorted them into colors and ate all the red ones first before putting the yellow, blue, and green back into the bag. He debated with the orange but shoved half into the pile of brown and the other half back into bag which he twisted shut and slid into a side pocket of his tech bag.

Cougar said nothing, but then Cougar had seen him do this with M&Ms and Skittles before and Jensen was expecting the other man to just let him talk it out. "I don't know what I'm doing, Cougs. With you. With this mission. Clay is messing with all of us. I get that and I can get why. He's tired of playing by human rules, but we all joined a human military force...each for our own reasons. Do you have any idea how much our AARs are going to have to be edited and you're actually normally wordy in those, but I can't see you writing 'I turned into a cat and leapt from building to rescue my CO' and I'm going to have to know how you word that in your report so that it matches mine."

Jensen ate the M&Ms that were laid out in front of him before turning around and flopping down on his back to look up at the stars. "What if this new Clay has an issue with us being together?"

Cougar snorted and leaned over so he was looking down into his face. "I believe Clay thinks we've already been sleeping together."

Jensen tilted his head back a little. "Seriously?"

Jensen saw Cougar reach out with both hands and then his glasses were gone. When Cougar was back in view the other man had his hat off and Jensen guessed the hat and his glasses were next to Cougar's rifle but he only cared for a second before Cougar was kissing him.

"Seriously," Cougar whispered into his ear before returning to the kiss.

Who was Jensen to argue with that?

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Cougar deepened the kiss while running one hand softly up and down Jensen's chest several times. Each time he would get closer and closer to the hem of Jensen's comic book boxers. After the fourth time he slowly slid his hand under the band and around to the side but didn't try to slide the material down. The frustrated hiss from Jensen made him grin and instead he bent over Jensen's chest and began kissing and licking a path from naval to throat.

It surprised Cougar how quiet Jensen could be. He'd expected the younger man to be as talkative in this as he was in most of his every day life. Cougar sucked at the juncture of Jensen's neck and shoulder before lightly biting. Jensen hissed again and Cougar felt Jensen's hands grip his sides. He shifted so he could straddle the younger man and sat up, Jensen's hands coming to rest on his thighs while biting at his lower lip.

"Do you want this Jake?

Jensen's eyes were wide, pupils blown and lips kiss-swollen and all he did was nod. But Cougar needed more and leaned down so the palms of his hands rested on either side of his lover's head.

"Tell me," Cougar said looking Jensen in the eyes.

"I think I've wanted this since our first run," Jensen answered.

Cougar kissed Jensen and didn't stop until they both needed to breathe. He moved down and attacked Jensen's neck again, marking this side as he'd done the other. Moving down, he left marks across chest and stomach. This time when he reached the hem of Jensen's boxers he slid his hand in and down, brushing over Jensen's cock. He smirked a little when Jensen gave a little jump and yelp that ended in a quiet moan and he repeated the action twice more before he completely removed the boxers.

He spared a moment to finish stripping off his own clothes before making Jensen pant and squirm. Cougar felt Jensen's hands in his hair and he let the other man pull him back up for another breath-stealing kiss.

Jensen rolled them over and Cougar laid there as Jensen kissed, sucked and licked his way down his body. Arching slightly as his cock was taken into Jensen's mouth. He moaned and reached down and rubbed his fingers through Jensen's soft spiky hair. Jensen released his cock and Cougar could see that the other man's eyes were a bight, shining blue. The blue he associated with Jensen's wolf.

Cougar squeezed Jensen's shoulder and gave it a tug upward, bringing he and Jensen back to eye level. He took Jensen's head in his hands and pulled him down for another kiss while rolling them over so that he was back on top. This time hands and mouths roamed from lips to shoulder to thigh and back again sending pleasure through both of them and when he took Jensen's mouth for one last kiss he angled their lower bodies together over and over creating a beautiful friction that soon had them coming together.

They both lay there for several moments, waiting for their breathing to slow. Cougar could hear and feel as Jensen's heartbeat began to slow and started to move his weight off the other man, but Jensen held him in place.

"Not yet," Jensen whispered.

"We have the rest of the night and early morning," Cougar responded, stroking his hand down Jensen's chest. "But you need to eat."

"I ate two of them afterIhealedmyankle." The last half of the sentence was said quickly through a mumble and it took Cougar a second to translate it.

"And you have shifted fully since then," Cougar reminded the other man. Jensen loosened his hold and Cougar rolled to lay on his side, leaving his hand resting on Jensen's chest. "How much time did you lose?" he asked. He knew that like himself Jensen carried many of the old traits and they hadn't shared those facts with Clay. Like shifting just a body part or being able to cleanly shift into another form if they needed. Cougar thought Jensen's issue with birds was the flight. Jensen wasn't fond of flying so he just wasn't as confident with the form of a bird as he was with the wolf. Then again, Cougar wasn't fond of shifting into some forms so who was he to point fingers.

Plus he knew Jensen was still young at least as far as shifters were concerned and was still working through things--things an Elder would have helped Jensen with but the younger man was figuring out on his own. It was something Cougar had already corrected for Jensen's sister and niece by introducing them to his own mother. And something he was going to help Jensen with himself--not that he was exactly an Elder himself, but both he and Jensen had similar abilities that not all shifters had and he knew Jensen would listen to him over some stranger.

He heard Jensen sigh and the younger man then levered himself into a sitting position. "It's hard to explain," Jensen said while dragging his tech bag closer.

Cougar waited and watched as Jensen gently removed his laptop before upending the bag in front of him. The sheer amount of stuff Jensen had shoved into the bag was really amazing--from cables and flash drives to various parts of half eaten MREs to an eReader and part of what looked like a satellite phone. He let Jensen root through the bag for a second before reaching towards his hat and Jensen's glasses.

As if sensing what Cougar had in his hand, Jensen reached back for his glasses and then tossed a wild berry PowerBar at Cougar. "I don't think I lost time. Well, okay, I did. But not in that sense. I mean obviously I wasn't all there and was surprised about an hour had passed but I really think if someone had come into the building or if Pooch had been in trouble I would have known."

Cougar nodded, taking a bite of the bar. Jensen was probably correct on his thoughts. The hacker was generally hyper-aware of what was happening around him unless he felt safe enough to lose himself in his computers. Something Cougar had really only seen Jensen do when they were alone. Though Clay would think differently, Jensen was never as far gone as he acted. They would have to test the partial shifting thing--and not just claws, as that was a simple thing--when it was safe, but not here and not while Clay was playing Incubus Lord and Master. "Probably. Eat."

Jensen reached for two of the half bags of candy that had fallen out of his bag but Cougar batted the hand away and pushed one of the random MRE entree sleeves into Jensen's hand. "Food now, sweets later," he said, stroking his fingers down Jensen's face. "And after that, we'll see."

"Cougs," Jensen said, without looking up. He'd started his MRE to warming and was rolling the recapped water bottle between his hands. "There's a...an electricity, a current moving around and through us. Is that the bond?"

Cougar gently placed his fingers under Jensen's jaw and lifted his head so he could look into Jensen's blue eyes. "Yes," he said, taking the bottle of water and placing it on the ground. "We can stop it if..."

"No," Jensen interrupted, leaning in so their foreheads touched. "I want this. I want you and no one else."

Cougar grinned and kissed Jensen. "Eat, wolf."

Jensen grinned back and started eating. Cougar nodded and reached for his second MRE. He had plans for the rest of their time up here before they needed to be cleaned up and back downstairs to report in.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

The sun was just breaking over the horizon when Jensen slowly blinked open his eyes. He was on his back and Cougar was draped over him and for a man who was actually shorter and lighter than Jensen was, he was hard to move when he didn't want to budge. The arm and leg wrapped around him tightened as Jensen tried to move and he wondered if Cougar had taken lessons from a boa.

"Cougs," he said quietly and gently tried to push the other man over so he could inch out from under him. He quickly realized that wasn't going to happen when Cougar shifted and tightened his hold even more.

"Carlos," he tried, shaking Cougar's shoulder.

"We do not need to be up for another hour," Cougar answered without moving or opening his eyes.

"But..."

"Your computer will still be there in fifty-nine minutes."

Jensen huffed but relaxed into the feeling of Cougar so close and followed the other man's soft breathing back into sleep. The next time he woke was to Cougar kissing him. It was a much better way to wake. The night before had been a lesson in passion and stamina and he was quite sure there were going to be clear handprints, teeth marks, and love bites on them both. Though he was positive he had more. Cougar was possessive, but Jensen could live with that. It wasn't as if he wouldn't kill anyone that tried to take Cougar away from him either.

The kissing turned into nipping and licking and roaming hands and soon Cougar was straddling him and it turned into grinding and bucking. Jensen gripped Cougar's hips and moved his legs causing Cougar to stretch his back and moan. He bit his lip as Cougar's muscles tightened around his cock and he had just enough brainpower left to wrap his own hand around Cougar's cock and stroke. Within seconds their climax was rolling through them both. Cougar leaned down and whispered into his ear "you're mine" before kissing him again.

"Ditto," Jensen replied, hugging Cougar to himself for a second.

"Shower, food, computer, Clay."

Jensen grinned into to Cougar's neck liking the plan.

"No sex in the shower," Cougar added with a grin before rolling to his feet.

"Damn," Jensen sighed, stretching the kinks out of his body.

Neither man bothered to dress as they gathered their things and made their way down from the roof to the showers. Jensen tried for a little shower fun, but Cougar was back in mission mode, not that Jensen could really blame the sniper. The sooner they got through whatever Clay was planning the sooner they could get home.

The first thing Jensen saw when he walked back into their makeshift operations room was Pooch sitting up on the cot, holding his head in his hands. The next thing he noticed was that Clay and Roque weren't there yet which meant he had time to surf the internet and check for updates on DeSoto.

"Pooch," he asked first. "How you doing man? Have you eaten?"

"What the hell did Clay do?"

Jensen looked from Pooch to Cougar who had just come through the door. "Cougs," he said, grabbing the comfy office chair and rolling it back to the desk he'd used the night before. "I love you. I really, really do. But you're so answering that inquiry."

Cougar gave him a look that was part grimace, part smile, and part glare. He shrugged it off, put on his glasses and flipped his laptop open. He had an arms dealer to find and if he could get a clear uplink he could find out how far out their chopper was.

The loud "he did what" that came with Pooch standing and pacing told him Cougar was done with story time.

"Jolene is going to kill him," Pooch said, sitting back down and taking the MRE from Cougar. "I mean she's going to skin him alive and use his bones to...I have no idea what. She's going to be pissed. We knew there was a chance our kids might inherit something from either of us and we were sure it would be her since she's active and I'm a second generation dormant. She's going to be pissed."

"You weren't as dormant as you thought," Cougar commented. "Or he'd never have been able to push that kind of power into you without killing you."

Jensen turned around. "Just remember, she's a good witch...maybe there will be no flaying of the Boss Man. Maybe there will be cookies," he added, hopefully. He really did like Jolene's cookies. Plus, he was sure she would be tickled about him and Cougar.

Pooch ran his hand over his face and head, then interrupted Jensen's cookie thoughts. "You taking bets?"

"Against you, now, no." Jensen shook his head and turned the chair back around, but continued. "Keep thinking about yummy homemade cookies, man."

"There will be cookies," he heard Pooch say. "You two should grab them and run."

Clay chose that moment to enter the room with Roque following behind. "Jolene is not going to kill me," he said. "Though I don't doubt there will be some yelling. Jensen, report?"

He didn't look up from his computer as he started reporting. "DeSoto is just inside the French-Italian border; somewhere near the Port of France. Our chopper's not going to get us there without stopping. We could make Camp Darby by night fall though."

Clay leaned against the wall. "That'll work. We'll make the plans on how to get in and out of France once we get to base. Probably a boat and a couple of stolen cars."

Jensen could already see where this was going. Their records would say they got downtime at the beach when they were really smuggling an arms dealer out of a friendly country, into another friendly country and onto an American military base for extradition back to the states. Oh yeah, fun times. With water, beaches, boats, explosions, and gun fire.

"Chopper should be here in four hours."

"Good," Clay said, pushing off the wall. "Gives me time to grab a bite to eat."

Jensen froze in mid-type and glanced over his shoulder. He looked first at Cougar before letting his eyes go to Roque and Clay. Clay laughed and grabbed an MRE. The laugh was kind of scary sounding--like the sound the killer in the movie made right before he came after you.

"Are you worried, my wolf?" Clay asked, turning to face all his men, his eyes solid black again and with a wide grin on his face.

Jensen heard Pooch's sharp intake of breath--he'd forgotten that Pooch hadn't yet seen Clay in his full Gone Crazy Master Incubus look.

"Umm, no boss," Jensen answered. "Just wondering what's for lunch."

Clay chuckled.

"I'll get that when we get to DeSoto's," Clay added, his eyes returning to their human color. "Eat and pack your gear. I want to be ready when the bird gets here."

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

The chopper ride to the base in Italy was uneventful and for that Cougar was absolutely thankful. He spent the trip sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, hat low and in the seat between Jensen and Pooch. He had kept Jensen as far away from the incubus as was possible. The smirk Clay had given him more than halfway through the flight was all the proof he needed that Clay knew the seating arrangements were on purpose.

Once they landed Clay somehow managed to get them lodging at Casa Toscana and then went to file a report with the brass. Roque disappeared for several hours but came back smelling of women and sex and Cougar figured it was some sort of rebellion or poke against Clay. Whatever was going on between his CO and 2IC now, he didn't want to know about it unless it was going to impact him and Jensen. Those two had a lot of issues to work through and he doubted it would happen overnight.

Pooch took the Jensenified satellite phone and went somewhere quiet and out of the way to call his wife, Jolene. He wasn't sure he wanted to know how that went either. Honestly, he was a little scared of Pooch's wife when she was pissed.

Cougar stored his gear, cleaned his guns while watching Jensen bounce around the room to the music coming out of the speakers on his laptop. Every now and then the hacker would check something on the screen, type a few keystrokes, grab another twizzler and then proceed to dance closer to Cougar's position where he was now stretched out on the bed reading.

On one of Jensen's passes by the bed Cougar reached out and pulled Jensen down, tumbling the taller man to the bed.

"Hi," Jensen said, grinning up at Cougar, twizzler still in his mouth.

Cougar smirked and removed the red candy before leaning down to kiss his partner and mate. Jensen tasted of strawberry and soda and within seconds he could feel Jensen's hands move under his clothes, roaming up his back to just below the waistband of his pants.

"Off, off, off," Jensen chanted into his ear.

"That'll have to wait!" Clay yelled, opening the door and marching through the small apartment. He grinned in their direction and took off his sunglasses to show his eyes were black as night again.

"Lust, sex, doesn't have to be because of me for me to feed," Clay added with a grin that bared his teeth.

Cougar cursed and climbed off Jensen and the bed with an unhappy sounding growl.

Clay chuckled. "Now, now, cat. You and Jensen can have all the fun you want after the mission is over. Jensen, find Pooch."

"Sucks, man," Jensen said righting his glasses and sitting up.

Cougar stroked a finger down Jensen's face and brought his lover's face upward for a quick kiss.

"We'll run together once this is over," he said whisper soft and for Jensen's ears only. Louder he said, "Go on."

Cougar watched as the other shifter moved off to his computer, no doubt tracing Pooch by the borrowed phone before moving into the living room where Clay stood with a beer in his hand. He waited for Jensen to leave the house before speaking. "What are you going to do with us, Boss?"

Clay pretended to not understand the question and took a swallow from the bottle. "I've not done anything before why should that change?"

Cougar nodded. He wasn't going to correct Clay about the length of his and Jensen's relationship. He was okay with just letting the incubus think they weren't hiding it anymore.

"Let me rephrase then," Cougar said. "What are you, as a Master of your kind who is known for keeping all sorts of pets, going to do with all of us?"

Clay snorted and put the bottle down.

"If I had wanted pets or slaves or followers I wouldn't have joined the Army and I wouldn't have put together a team with the strongest people I could find. I'm several hundred years old, Cougar, and I'm tired of not using what we really are to complete our missions." Clay rolled his shoulders and sat on one of the barstools. "You want out of the unit, after this mission, you both can go."

Cougar grunted. When it came to mission stuff he was quiet and did what he was told and ninety-nine percent of the time didn't have a problem with it. But when it came to the supernatural stuff he wasn't going to sit idly by and say nothing. He couldn't; there was just too much riding on the humans around them not finding out about them. "You giving Pooch and Roque that option too?"

"Pooch, yes. Roque, no. He was already too close to the surface. He would have switched on whether I did it or not. He and I, we're complicated." Clay picked up his bottle and finished the rest of the beer in one swallow. "As for Pooch, I will admit that was...not one of my more shining moments and I probably shouldn't have done what I did and you're right Jolene will be pissed. But his new skill set will make us better." Clay growled at him then. "Are we done now?"

Cougar tilted his head in thought and then nodded.

"Jensen and I will not help you with Jolene," he answered, lips turned up in a smirk which only widened with Clay's quiet "well, shit."

Pooch's first words when he came through the door were, "When this mission is over Jolene wants your ass in her kitchen and the Pooch is not gonna help you."

"Understood."

Cougar laughed. He couldn't help himself.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

The mission plan was simple. Clay and Pooch would use their "skills" to borrow a small plane which, flying under radar, would get them across the Ligurian Sea and within about eight klicks of DeSoto's villa. A borrowed car would get them the rest of the way. Sneak in, grab DeSoto, destroy any munitions they could find, get out. Fly back to Camp Darby, drop off their prisoner and three days later they would be back in the States.

Simple. That should have been the giant, blinking warning sign. When it came to missions the Losers didn't know how to do simple.

The borrowing of the plane went off without a hitch. Pooch took to his stronger abilities as if he'd always had them and that and his awesome pilot skills had them still in one piece while their plane was in four. Jensen shuddered, he was beginning to hate the whole flying thing.

"That way," he pointed, off to his right. "We're fifty-six clicks from where we were supposed to be but there should be a small town about five from here." He dropped his palm computer into his pack and swung it up on his shoulder before picking up his rifle. Jensen glanced over at Cougar, but his lover only shrugged and picked up his own gear and started walking. So far it seemed no one had noticed their fiery crash-landing which meant the weather had covered any explosion or lightening shows. It also meant they were now hiking through mud.

To everyone's surprise, including his own, it was not him that started bitching but Roque. Random chatter Jensen could handle, after all he was the king of it. The bitching was boring. "I so can't believe I'm going to say this, but Roque, shut the hell up."

Roque spun on him, but Jensen moved right around him and kept walking, ignoring the snarl from the demon-blood. Jensen figured if Clay was using his true abilities why shouldn't he. And tossing Roque ten feet would be such a simple thing. "Man, work whatever issues you have with Clay out when we're back in the States and not sloughing our way through the muddy French countryside before I toss you in the next mud hole we pass."

"If you put the Boss Man out of his misery he won't have to face Jolene," Pooch added, glancing over his shoulder to grin at Clay.

"I'll make this simple," Clay barked. "Everyone shut the fuck up and walk. We are in mission mode."

The five clicks actually went faster and quieter after that. The town, however, was not really a town but more of a village with about a dozen little homes and stores spread out across a crossroads. Pooch counted three cars, two motorcycles, a dozen bicycles, and four tractors.

"Not good," Pooch said, shaking his head. "They'll notice the cars missing."

A low whistle had them looking up to find Cougar standing on the roof of a nearby building. He glanced down at them before pointing off to the right and the field just the other side of all the houses. Cougar was gone before anyone could say anything. They found him leaning up against an old military-style pickup truck that had probably been stuck in the field since the war.

Pooch glared at the sniper, but then frowned as he stared at the truck.

"What exactly did you do to me again?" Pooch muttered as he ran his hand across the hood of the truck before glancing back at Clay. "And why didn't it work on the plane?"

Clay only shrugged.

Jensen placed his hand on the hood. "It's vibrating. Is that you?" He looked at Pooch. Maybe conjuror wasn't the right description for Pooch.

Pooch nodded.

"Can you two," Pooch asked, looking between Cougar and Jensen, "push it up onto the road?"

Jensen looked over at Cougar and shrugged before tossing his gear into the bed of the truck. Cougar tossed his bag in but handed his sniper rifle off to Clay before joining Jensen at the back of the truck. It only took them a few minutes to pop the truck out of the mud and roll it to the road.

"Newer than I thought." Pooch hmm'ed and omm'ed for a minute while he walked around the truck.

Jensen could see the obvious damage. One tire was flat but there was a full-size spare in the well so that was easily fixed and the truck was missing both doors but that could be worked around. "We need to siphon gas?" he asked, turning to look at Pooch.

"Yes," Pooch answered, his eyes a little glassy looking. "Gas and change the tire, other than that I think I can get this baby to run for me."

"Do it," Clay ordered.

Pooch climbed behind the wheel and put his hand on the dash. The truck tried to rumble to life but sputtered to a halt. "We'll need water and oil too, if you can find it."

Jensen jogged back to town and popped the lock on the closest utility shed. He lucked out and found a half filled gas can and a container of forty-weight oil, which he hoped would work. He took his procured items and went to check the other sheds. The next two had nothing of value. The fourth had a hose he cut a length from. Now all he needed to do was siphon some of the gas from each of the three cars into the can.

He was still spitting the taste of gas out of his mouth when he returned to Pooch. Pooch took the oil while Jensen poured the gas carefully into the tank. The truck purred to life and Jensen was just going to ignore all the questions bouncing around in his head about exactly what Pooch was now. Though, maybe there would be no flaying of Clay if it just added to Pooch's mechanical skills.

The drive took them nearly ninety minutes and put them several hours behind schedule and they still needed an exit strategy, as they no longer had a plane. It also meant they only had two hours before dawn to pull this off.

Jensen looked over the compound from his position and then turned to look at Clay, head tilted as he wasn't using his comms. "Cougar says DeSoto has a helicopter."

"There's our exit," Clay acknowledged. "Pooch get the chopper ready. Cougar you're our eyes. The rest of us are heading in. If we're lucky DeSoto is sleeping in his bed and this will still be a snatch and grab."

Jensen sucked in a breath and scaled the side of the building that was the fastest way to his second floor entry point. "Back in the States. Running with Cougar," he repeated to himself as he popped the latch on the balcony door and made his way inside and came face to face with three growling guard dogs.

He snorted and growled back. The dogs made a whimpering sound and slunk away. "Hallway cleared," he reported. "Oh, and there are dogs," he added as an after thought. "Moving towards target."

"Copy. Munitions found. Setting explosives. Fifteen to exit."

Jensen inched towards DeSoto's door but didn't make it as the door swung open and there in the doorway stood a black-eyed arms dealer. "Shit! Boss he's a fucking succubus!"

DeSoto laughed.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Cougar was already on the move and breaking position before Jensen had finished his comment. That quick moment of fear Jensen had felt had pulsed through the bond that was still growing between them. He ran past Pooch's position and tossed his gear and rifle at the pilot.

"Stay," he told the other man.

Pooch was still mortal and far easier to kill than either he or Jensen, and Cougar had a feeling that DeSoto was like Clay and had collected himself a little supernatural army. It would explain Wilson and whatever else Clay had fed on in that warehouse.

He could hear Clay and Roque through the comms but Jensen had gone quiet. Which was not necessarily a bad thing. Cougar sprinted through the backyard and only ran into three contacts. The first two were easily dispatched. The third was another shifter. Cougar didn't know what the man generally shifted into but he quickly ducked the hand that had turned into claws while sweeping his leg behind his opponent's knees.

The other shifter dropped, back hitting the ground hard enough to knock a gasp out of him and at that moment Cougar figured the man was used to fighting normal humans and not other shifters. Before the man could fully climb to his feet Cougar aimed a kick to the mid-section and one to the head. The man dropped back to the ground without a sound.

Cougar looked up at the balconies and overhangs, took a few steps back and with a small running start leapt to the overhang and then swung up to the first balcony railing and landed smoothly on his feet. He began jumping from balcony railing to balcony railing until he caught the scent he was looking for and crashed through a window and rolled to his feet just as Clay and Roque charged up the stairs on the other side of the hallway. Between them stood DeSoto, several of DeSoto's people and Jensen. In the seconds he took to assess the situation he realized the woman with DeSoto was a succubus as she was the only one fully dressed and the men around them smelled of animal and were barely covered, allowing them to shift quite easily. Clay's eyes were black and there was blood on his shirt but no obvious wounds and Roque was bleeding from a cut that ran over his right eye and cheek but was smiling as if he was having fun. As for Jensen, just to his lover's right was some type of spotted cat, jaguar if he had to guess, lying in a pool of blood.

"Guess you got the succubus thing right this time?" Clay grinned stepping ahead of Roque and eyed the woman--she was definitely Clay's type. But it wasn't lust he smelled or saw in Clay's eyes; it was something very close to hunger and Cougar had a moment to wonder if Clay's species, or at least a Master, could truly feed off another of its kind.

Jensen grunted, his gun still aimed at DeSoto; though to take a shifter down with bullets the clip had to almost be empty. "Nah, he gave me the same damn lecture. Welcome to the party."

DeSoto seemed to remain focused on Jensen as if he was sizing up something he could own and Cougar wanted to snap DeSoto's neck but he held his position this time, waiting to see what Clay would do. "Tell me dog, who's your master? Who sent his pet to steal from me?"

Cougar nearly laughed at the affronted expression that appeared on Jensen's face. Clay did laugh and that finally drew DeSoto's attention away from Jensen and towards Clay and Roque.

"I sent him." Clay didn't bother to even look at the shifter that ran at him, just batted him out of the way and kept walking towards DeSoto. "He's my wolf."

"Disobedient vermin." The woman raised her hand to strike Clay, but Roque intercepted it and yanked the woman toward him, twisting her arm behind her back. And that's when all hell broke loose in the hallway. The shifter that Clay had batted out of the way shifted and charged Roque, toppling both Roque and the succubus to the ground. The two others came at him and Jensen and that left Clay and DeSoto staring at each other.

Roque rolled away from the succubus and the black-furred wolf, and came to his feet holding a very large serrated knife in his hand. He kicked the wolf out of his way while trying to grab the woman as she made a move to attack Clay from behind.

Clay didn't even look back, just stepped to the side and grabbed the woman as she passed. He pulled her to him and bit her neck. Fear and blood. He tossed her back towards Roque and lunged for DeSoto.

Meanwhile Cougar hadn't even waited for the shifter to get close to him, he pulled his gun and shot the man twice. Once in the head and once in the chest. Depending on the age and strength of the shifter the man would either get up or he wouldn't and Cougar didn't care either way. Jensen, his empty gun now on the floor, had already engaged with the other shifter and Cougar couldn't risk hitting Jensen as the two men continued to grapple across the floor. However, the succubus tried to move in on Roque while the big man's attention was fixed on the snapping, snarling wolf that had its teeth wrapped around Roque's arm.

Cougar tried to fire the rest of the clip into the succubus' chest, but she was fast and only three bullets actually hit her. Even weakened she growled and moved to come after him instead of Roque. As far as plans went, he'd had better, but this would do as he dropped his gun and let his fingers reshape into claws.

He caught her across the midsection with the first swipe and across the face with the second before sending her flying out the broken window to the ground below. When he turned back to look at Jensen he found his mate pulling his hand out of the other shifter's chest.

The claws on Jensen's hand retracted and he looked over at Cougar with a grimace. "That was just disgusting."

Cougar snorted but didn't disagree. He looked over at Roque in time to see the man push the dead body of the wolf off him. Clay was still fighting with DeSoto but had enough presence of mind to bark orders. "Roque, blow the whole place. Jensen, get everything you can. Cougar cover. Exit in three to our ride."

Clay and DeSoto then crashed through a closed door and continued their fight in another room. The three remaining Losers looked at each other for a second and then split off. Jensen grabbed up his bag and ran for the room DeSoto came out of, Cougar following. Within seconds Jensen was downloading everything off of DeSoto's secured systems from bank accounts and routing numbers to shipping schedules and his other contacts.

"Time," Cougar said, putting his hand on Jensen's shoulder and squeezing lightly.

The two of them caught up with Roque just outside the side doors and made a run for the helicopter and Pooch. As soon as they rounded the corner of the building and started their sprint the helicopter sprang to life--lights coming on, blades turning.

"Where's Clay?" Pooch asked as soon as they'd climbed in. "And how long before the boom?"

Cougar would say the sound Roque made was a gleeful cackle.

"It's going to be a big boom so this bird's going to need to be in the air in less than sixty." Roque's voice still sounded a little too gleeful for Cougar.

"Clay?"

"There."

"Well he could at least run or do that flying-glide shit."

Roque cackled again.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Jensen didn't like that particular laugh of Roque's on a normal day. Waiting in a stolen helicopter, hoping that Clay was on his way, he liked it even less. It was the laugh that said Roque was trying to blow a hole in the planet and might have finally succeeded.

"Can a Master feed off others of their kind?" Jensen wondered out loud. "I mean, not that we need Clay all loco crazy Master again but it would be a good thing to have known in advance. Though really knowing that DeSoto was an incubus and employed supernaturals would have been good too. Not that anyone ever puts that in their files. Be kind of stupid actually."

He would have kept rambling if Cougar hadn't yanked him forward and stopped him with a kiss. Even Roque's sound of revulsion didn't stop them, but Pooch announcing that Clay was gliding across the yard had everyone looking out the chopper.

"Get a move on Clay this place is going to light up like a Christmas tree!" Roque yelled with an insane grin as he hung his upper body out of the chopper.

Even from inside the chopper they could see Clay's wide smile. Their boss' clothes were a little torn but Clay seemed to be happy with himself as he climbed aboard.

"Get us gone," Clay said, licking a drop of blood from the top of his hand.

"Reports to read as follows: Plane crashed. Transport acquired. Met with resistance at DeSoto's villa. Weaponry and munitions destroyed. Jensen, Roque took pictures, make sure those get attached to the reports. DeSoto's villa had a self-destruct. Pooch used DeSoto's helicopter for our exit. Questions?"

No one said anything. They were staring at Clay as the other man's wounds began to seal themselves. Within seconds the only proof that Clay had been injured was the damage to his clothes.

"Outstanding," Clay said with another grin. "Wake me when we get back to base."

That was about the time the second round of explosions went off. They were bright and enveloped the entire villa in flames and smaller explosions, and sort of looked like the blinking lights of a Christmas tree.

"Pretty. I give it an eight, Roque," Jensen said, glancing down at the villa again before looking up and grinning over at Roque. "That'll definitely be seen by others and at least one satellite."

"Shut up, Jensen."

Jensen snickered and gave a small shrug before leaning into Cougar. He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew Pooch was bringing the borrowed helicopter in for a smooth landing on one of the base helipads.

"Did I miss anything?" Jensen whispered as he stretched the kinks out of his muscles from sleeping in the cramped space the helicopter offered.

Cougar smirked but shook his head no.

"Everyone but Pooch dozed off and on during the flight," he answered.

"That's right, everyone but the Pooch got to nap," Pooch said, shutting the helicopter down and turning to look at them. "Now, folks, it's my turn."

Jensen couldn't help himself, he just had to know. Sometimes he hated the way his mind worked.

"Boss?" He waited for Clay to look up at him and wasn't disappointed when he saw that Clay's eyes were still black. "Did you eat DeSoto?"

Clay growled. "Feed, Jensen. And, yes," Clay answered, sliding on a pair of sunglasses. "Reports first, then take six. I hope to have us on an earlier flight back to the States before tomorrow morning."

Jensen was pretty sure he didn't want to know how exactly that worked or what the other incubus or succubus looked like when the feeding was done. Then again, he wondered how that worked in family units. Did it work? Clay had parents, didn't he? Jensen hated his brain. Maybe Cougar would know. He opened his mouth to ask but Cougar was already shaking his head no.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath. "Later?" he asked, hopefully.

Cougar grabbed him by the shirtsleeve and pulled him along for several steps before letting go.

"Shower or food?" Cougar asked, then paused and sniffed. "Shower first."

Jensen sniffed. "Definitely."

Besides, showering with Cougar could have benefits. Especially when Cougar pulled them into the room they had been sharing less than twelve hours ago, slammed the door, and dragged him off to the bathroom. Minutes later he was thanking whoever it was who put a shower stall and not a tub in this bathroom.

They were clean, beginning to prune, and both very satisfied when Jensen flopped back on the bed. Cougar straddled his stomach and leaned down to kiss him again.

"I don't know how Clay's people do things and I don't think he will share. Just like we don't," Cougar said quietly, shifting to lie mostly on top of him. "It is what keeps us all safe."

Jensen couldn't disagree. His stomach could. It broke the moment by growling out its hunger. "We could eat the MREs I have in my bag; wait for the yummy food Jolene and my sis will make."

That's when Jensen bolted upright, knocking Cougar from his spot. "Oh my god! My sister! She's going to kill me for not telling her about you, us. Shit."

He felt Cougar come up behind him on the bed. The other man's chin coming to rest on his shoulder while Cougar's arms wrapped around him. "Do you think she will care?"

"She adores you. And Katie adores her Uncle Cougar. If my niece turns out to be a cat I'm gonna be pissed at you. No, it's...my family has baggage."

Cougar snorted.

Jensen turned his head so he could look at Cougar. "But I guess you already knew that. I'll email her after dinner. Tell her to call Jolene for all the details. We should never have introduced those two."

Cougar snorted again before climbing off the bed. Jensen sat there and watched his lover dig around in their gear for clean clothes for both of them. There was a hum just under his skin that felt like barely contained excitement when he thought about him and Cougar. Less than a week ago he was single; now he had a lover, a mate. He was happy. Plus, he was positive he could feel Cougar's amusement.

His lover chose that moment to turn around and toss clothes in his direction, which for the most part he caught. The socks thumped him in the chest.

"We'll talk when the others aren't around." Cougar said softly.

Jensen quickly dressed before whispering his next question. "Cougs, exactly how old are you?"

Cougar ran his fingers gently down his cheek.

"Younger than Clay," Cougar answered him, before bringing his head up for a kiss.

"Wait? What? How old is Clay? Coouuggs, that's not an answer," Jensen said, following his mate out of their room.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

Clay got them on the next transport back to the States as well as getting them transportation to Pooch's house so that Clay could face Jolene. Clay and Roque were sitting at the dining room table while Jolene stood there and loudly told them what she thought.

Pooch was sitting at the kitchen counter hiding his face in his arms.

For their part, Cougar and Jensen accepted the cookies, kisses on the cheek, and congratulations from Jolene before bolting out into the yard. They watched The Jolene Show from the safety of one of the limbs on the big oak tree in the backyard.

"That is colorful language coming out of Jolene's mouth."

Cougar couldn't disagree and instead opted for another cookie. He bumped shoulders with Jensen and handed his mate another cookie.

"I don't think she'll be winding down anytime soon."

Cougar nodded.

"Do you think she'll turn Clay into a frog and make Roque kiss him or something?"

Cougar did a double take and nearly choked on his cookie. Sometimes he wondered what went on in his mate's brain. He shifted slightly on his perch so he could look at both Jensen and the action in the dining room.

"I think," he said between bites, and okay, his sweet tooth might just be worse than Jensen's. "She's going to make him grovel for months to come."

"Think she'd mind if we got naked in her backyard?"

Cougar lifted his eyebrow and turned his full focus on Jensen, waiting for the other man to finish.

"Not that way. Well, partially that way. I mean their house backs up to the woods and if they plan on having children they should really think about getting a fence. Though maybe there's some type of witchy fence. Want to go for a run?"

Cougar glanced back into the dining room and let his hearing focus in on what was going on in there. Jolene wasn't going to let those three go until dinnertime. A run would be good for both of them. He swung his legs out and pushed off the tree, easily dropping to the ground below.

Within seconds there was a cougar and a wolf streaking off towards the woods and all that was left to show there'd been two men there was a pile of clothes and half a bag of cookies. They ran over, around, and under fallen trees while dodging around standing ones. They chased a deer or two and some rabbits before veering off towards the small pond about a mile from Pooch's house.

The wolf ran right into the water and splashed around before turning to look at the cougar. It whined and turned in circles trying to get the cougar to join him. The cougar had come to a halt at the water's edge and sat down. It hissed at the wolf. The wolf whined and sat down in the water. The cougar made a whistling chirp sound and walked away from the edge of the water to lay on the soft grass.

"Fine," Jensen huffed, having shifted back to human form, he walked naked to the lounging cougar. "Be that way. But I know for a fact that cougars can swim."

The cougar flicked its tail once, twice and then Cougar too shifted back to human form. He was laying on his back with his arms folded behind his head. "Just because I can swim doesn't mean I want to."

Jensen plopped down next to him then flopped backwards to the ground. The wolf really was the right animal for Jensen. Cougar grinned to himself at the thought and rolled up and over so he could straddle Jensen's stomach.

"Clay is at least two hundred years old."

"Holy shit."

"The older his kind get the stronger they are."

"Like us."

Cougar gave a little shrug. "I don't know," he added. "Getting information out of his kind is like pulling teeth."

"Would Jolene know? Would she tell us?" Jensen sounded curious and hopeful at the same time.

Cougar shrugged again. It was a good thought but he didn't want to risk putting Jolene into an uncomfortable position. Then again, he'd bet money that she'd drop a few helpful hints so he and Jensen could help keep Pooch safe.

"We'll ask," he finally said.

Jensen smiled up at him, his hands resting on Cougar's waist. "How old are you, Carlos?"

"I am not thirty-two." The age his Army records stated.

"Duh. I might be twenty-eight, but I wasn't born yesterday."

Cougar grinned and gave his head a little shake. Jensen's smart-ass remarks and tendency to ramble without a filter were always going to be a part of the hacker. But he was also a force of nature with his ability to make tech roll over for him. Added to that were skills as a shifter Jensen shouldn't have been able to master until he was older and would just get stronger as Cougar made him practice. Cougar thought Jensen perfect as those inquisitive blue eyes stared up at him waiting for an answer.

"Forty-seven." And like Clay's people, shapeshifters aged slower than humans and some could become stronger--both physically and metaphysically--as they got older.

He felt Jensen's hand clutch his waist tighter. And knowing what he did about Jensen's family his mate had not had a lot of good experiences with older shifters. But then it also seemed Jensen waited to judge people to see what they did. "How strong are you, Carlos?"

Cougar leaned down, almost chest to chest with Jensen. He planted his hands on either side of Jensen's head and shifted. The cougar swiped its tongue across Jensen's neck and shoulder before letting its nose and whiskers tickle across the same spot. And just as quickly the human Cougar was there and repeating the actions.

"Shit."

"Does it bother you, Jake?"

Jensen smiled up at him and it was one of his real smiles. The ones Jake saved for his niece, and Cougar relaxed.

"Nope," Jake answered. "But you gotta show me how to do that. To flip so fast, like a switch, without seeming to be exhausted. Does Jolene have a Garfield-colored cat?"

Cougar glanced in the direction Jake was looking and sure enough there was an orange and black tabby cat sitting there looking at them with very bright green eyes. The cat stood, stretched, and walked a few steps closer before disappearing.

"Yes," Cougar said, turning to look back at Jake. "I think Jolene has," he paused, looking for a word for a disappearing house cat and couldn't come up with anything but, "a cat."

"Damn," Jensen said, sitting them both upright. "Guess that means no sex out by the pond if she sent Cheshire out here to bring us home."

Cougar rolled off Jensen and in the same moment shifted back into animal form.

"You really do have to teach me how to do that without totally wearing myself out," Jensen said right before shifting and running back toward Pooch's house.

The cougar shook its head and loped after the wolf.

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ 

The twelve hours that followed had been awesome. Clay and Roque had walked around on eggshells at Pooch's house and Jolene's cooking was always for the bomb. And best news of all, Clay had gotten their leave extended.

It meant he got to spend a whole week with his sister and niece, and Cougar. His niece who was currently running toward him and Cougar.

"Uncle Jake, Uncle Jake, Uncle Cougar," the little blond-haired girl squealed as she ran towards them, pigtails trailing behind her.

Jensen caught the little girl and swung her up and around before giving her a big hug. "How's my favorite niece."

"I'm your only niece, Uncle Jake," she said, returning the hug.

Katie wriggled in her uncle's grasp and Jensen sat her feet back down on the ground. Katie instantly ran up to Cougar and looked up.

"Guess what Uncle Cougar?"

Cougar squatted down so he could look the little girl in the face. The little girl wrapped her arms around Cougar's neck and whispered.

"I can be a little cat. But mom says I have to wait to pick until I'm older." The little girl's voice clearly said she didn't believe that to be true. "Will you and Uncle Jake take me to the zoo? I like all the cats and the elephants."

Jensen glared at Cougar and his niece and Cougar just smirked at him as he picked up Katie to carry her inside. As Cougar passed him, Cougar leaned over and tried to steal his breath away with a kiss.

"Damn it. That's not fair either."

~ ~ ~ * END * ~ ~ ~ 


End file.
